Pomegranate Martinis

Happy New Year!

After the decision to make Hoppin' John for New Years Day (which was very good) , I decided to check out what other foods are traditional and found that pomegranates are also supposed to be lucky so I decided we needed to incorporate them into our New Years Day meal.

Hmmm.....

Pomegranate Martini's are a favorite of mine at a neighborhood restaurant so the choice was obvious. I found a recipe and headed off to the markets to get the ingredients. I used this recipes to make the martinis.

Pomegranate Martinis
4 fluid ounces pomegranate juice
2 fluid ounces cranberry juice cocktail
2 fluid ounces raspberry vodka
2 fluid ounces orange-flavored liqueur
1 fluid ounce grenadine syrup
1 cup crushed ice
DIRECTIONS
Combine pomegranate juice, cranberry juice, raspberry vodka, orange-flavored liqueur, grenadine syrup, and crushed ice in a shaker. Shake vigorously to chill. Pour into martini glasses, and serve.

I love how the outside of the shaker gets all frosty when you shake it.

I wanted to incorporate some real pomegranate seeds into the drink so I also picked up a couple of pomegranates.

Did you know there is a really easy way to separate the seeds from the membrane or "pith" (the white stuff is the pith and I used this word in scrabble last month and my son didn't believe it was a real word!) When you open the pomegranate and start to peel the pith from the seed, you do it in a bowl, underwater. The seeds all drop to the bottom of the bowl of water and the pith floats to the top where you can remove it easily.

Wow, those little pomegranate seeds are juicy and yummy. I added lots of them to my martini, where they floated to the bottom, beckoning me to finish my drink and gobble them up.

When I started looking up information about pomegranates ,I was really surprised to learn that grenadine, the syrup that is often used in drinks, is made from pomegranates, I had absolutely no idea. There are many interesting facts about pomegranates, they go back a long, long time; they are even mentioned in the bible . In history, it's a symbol of fertility (so not something I am interested in!) and they are supposedly a nutritional powerhouse too.

I think they taste great, especially when mixed into this cocktail.


Cheers.





Let us welcome in the New Year, full of things that have never been.